Talk:Brigitte Bardot
Is she still alive? She must be pushing 74. I thought all those mid-century sexpots wound up doping themselves into oblivion like Marilyn Monroe, Ava Gardner, Judy Garland . . . Turtle Fan 18:53, 3 March 2008 (UTC) Yep, I double checked. She managed not to kill herself. She's just known these days for taking controversial stances. TR 18:57, 3 March 2008 (UTC) Controversial, you say? Anything that stands out? So many modern "controversial" stances are downright cliche. Turtle Fan 13:38, 4 March 2008 (UTC) :She's voiced worries about the growing Muslim population in France. She's also taken a stance against gay-marriage. She's also an animal-rights activist, although I don't think that's particularly controversial. TR 16:27, 4 March 2008 (UTC) ::I read a few bio articles on her and saw lots of animal rights references, none of the others. I figured if she got really wacky with it, accosting people in fur coats and liberating slaughterhouses, that could rate controversy. Odd, though, I was going to say opposition to gay marriage doesn't sound controversial. Then again the proper definition of controversy, which is generating strong opinions both for and against, tends to be subsumed by the connotations of either Everyone thinks you're an idiot or You are an idiot but we like you too much to call you such so we're pussyfooting around the subject. ::Having read those bio articles I now feel bad about questioning why she wasn't with Monroe, Gardner, or Garland, or why she hadn't just missed it like Liz Taylor. She was pretty well-behaved and responsible. She walked the line between a girl who knows how to have fun and a self-destructive slut. I wish there were more like that. ::I should mention, by the way, that Bardot is not named explicitly in DtE. Jonathan teases Karen that she's going to the movies to ogle James Dean and Karen shoots back with "Like you won't be doing the same with what's-her-name--that blond French actress." I read between the lines. Turtle Fan 18:11, 4 March 2008 (UTC) :::I see this talk is from 2008, when things must have been less strict on this wiki. I just read the passage, and I think it counts as too speculative. Karen identifies the female lead as "that French chippie...the one who keeps trying to fall out of her clothes all the time." No mention of blondeness or any other details to suggest it's BB. How many beautiful showoff Frenchwomen were alive in the 1960s, whether in OTL or ATL? I suggest deletion of this article.JonathanMarkoff (talk) 02:26, April 16, 2016 (UTC) ::::I guess I wouldn't be opposed. Maybe if Bardot were known to be a frequent co-star of Dean's, it would be different; that might rate as a context clue. As it is, I'm not going to save her if others feel she should go. Turtle Fan (talk) 03:00, April 16, 2016 (UTC) ::::I haven't read the series so can't say one way or the other. However, I did Google "sex symbols 1960s" and checking the various lists, Bardot was always on them. The only other Frenchwoman consistently in the lists was Catherine Deneuve but her persona as a icy beauty doesn't seem to fit the description in the article. I don't feel strongly one way or the other but will suggest an entry in Minor Characters for "French Actress" if its decided that BB should be deleted. ML4E (talk) 16:32, April 16, 2016 (UTC) :::::I don't think there's even enough for that. The character isn't named, and we don't really know that she's from France. She's described as "French" by an American teeny bopper of dubious informedness, and for all we know (given American vagaries in labeling people) it could mean that the actress is a French-Canadian or even a French-American; the fact that France is still occupied by the Reich in this novel is a bit problematic and would require speculative explanation. (There's also an entity in the series called "Free France" in the Pacific Ocean, based around Tahiti.) The best way to go might be a lit comm saying "It has often been assumed that the lead actress is Brigitte Bardot, and this wiki endorsed that view for a time, but there is not enough evidence to confirm this," a bit like King Charles XI in Southern Victory.JonathanMarkoff (talk) 16:55, April 16, 2016 (UTC) :::::::We're not doing any more of those stupid things. Turtle Fan (talk) 00:41, April 17, 2016 (UTC) ::::::Given HT's tendencies, I'd be willing to bet a few bucks that he was referencing Bardot. The broad description (French girl who keeps trying to fall out of her cloths) certainly brought Bardot to mind when I read DtE lo so many years ago. And I don't think the GGR control of France would preclude much of anything, really. Even the Nazis had to play nice to an extent, and letting a French actress go to Hollywood would probably not fly too much in the face of their ideology (as opposed to a German actress proper). ::::::I think we should keep the article but through in a lit comment saying that we are pretty sure this is who HT had in mind, but there is some wiggle room. TR (talk) 18:11, April 16, 2016 (UTC) :::::::I'm fine with that, or with ML4E's proposed minor characters entry. I don't have much preference here. Turtle Fan (talk) 00:41, April 17, 2016 (UTC) Delete by new standards I was willing to let this one rest by the old standards, but by the new standards I don't think it passes the acid test. She's not named, not even by first name like Humphrey Bogart in Southern Victory, or given an important background role like almost-Vaclav-Havel in ''Presence'', and her description as a glamorous half-dressed chippie suggests her career and image are basically the same as in OTL. By contrast, James Dean's life is drastically altered in WW, so he should definitely stay.JonathanMarkoff (talk) 18:54, July 27, 2016 (UTC)